Different Destiny
by ColossalSky
Summary: Alanna's plan for her life was changed greatly. She was ambushed by mountain bandits and sold into slavery. See how she learns to cope with her new life. Will she find the bright side?
1. Chapter One

NOTICE! **Please read.** I have decided to do a little remodeling of this story. The first few chapters I will rewrite and correct all of my mistakes in. I will still be updating the story regularly. Hopefully I will have the reworking done by the middle of July. The story has not changed drastically so you won't have to reread it, but there will be little details added that might help to clear up any confusion that you may have. I also might add a few details that will play small parts in the future plot. Not all of the chapters will be done at once, so I will add a date to the chapter if I have already done all of the corrections. Thank you for your attention, now read on.

Chapter 1

Alanna and Thom of Trebond scrambled out of the room as their Father slammed the door behind them.

"Arggg," Alanna of Trebond yelled at the door were her father had been standing just seconds before. "He just doesn't care about us. What did we ever do?"

"You know Father, he is a conservative. With you disguising as me and trying to be a knight he was bound to be mad," Thom remarked. "We're lucky he doesn't disown us."

"Thom, you know as well as I that father could never do such a thing. There is no one to inherit the fief if he disowns you," Alanna answered.

"I guess that your right. It's just that I got so excited about not having to be a knight, now all my dreams are ruined in just a few seconds," Thom said this mournfully.

"If he wouldn't have come in when Maude was cutting my hair I would be on my way to the palace to become a knight," said Alanna.

"Well, do you think that I wanted to be a sorcerer any less than you wanted to be a knight. I guess we will just have to suck it up and go through our lives the way that Father sees fit," Thom started to walk down the corridor away from his sister.

Alanna set off after him saying, "Thom, maybe if we just think about it we can find another way to do things-,"

"Stop it Alanna. It's no use. Father sent the letters to the palace and the convent to prevent any further mistakes already. Just give it up," Thom interrupted.

----------------------------

Three days later the castle fiefs servants gathered around to see off the mischievous twins on their way. They had been waiting for this day since the two violet eyed redheads had learned to walk. They were forever underfoot and causing havoc.

Lord Alan had even come out to make sure that the two were on the right ponies with the right guardian. He would not have this mistake happen once again.

The twins were visibly not happy about this. They went on their ponies behind Maude and Coram pouting. Every other minute they would shoot a poisonous glance at Lord Alan.

The servants watched to two ride off until they rounded the bend and were out of sight. Then they all started back to their duties, and Lord Alan went again to immerse himself in his libraries hoping that he would not have to deal with anymore problems concerning his children until it was time for them to be married.

----------------------------

The journey seemed to go forever, although both of the twins were not looking forward to the end of the trip. They rode along in silence that seemed to stretch on forever. Even the woods creatures had decided to be quiet for the twins march to their fates.

After riding in the foreboding silence for three hours the group heard the sounds of someone or something crashing through the brush. As whatever it was got closer, they could hear that it was very big or there was a lot of whatever it was.

The guardians of the two looked around nervously for what had to be coming. Maude settled herself and her mount in front of the two nobles, but behind Coram.

Coram unhooked his large sword out of its sheath and readied himself to defend his charges from whatever was coming out of the dense tree cover towards them.

Alanna, who had been forced to wear riding skirts and had all of her weapons confiscated and left at, cursed herself in her mind for being so unprepared for a skirmish. She could have at least defended herself with the little bit of fighting knowledge that she had picked up from Coram and the huntsmen back at Trebond.

Thom had gone deathly pale for even though he had knives and a bow he couldn't throw or shoot on with enough accuracy to hit the backside of a barn if he was under any pressure at all. The only thing that he could think to do was take his small dagger out of his sheath and hold it how Coram had told him the best he could. On second thought he took out a second dagger, got Alanna's attention, and threw it to her. At least she would have a better idea of what to do than him.

As the road weary group looked through the dense forest to see what was coming at them. The first warning on what was coming was the black arrow that flew swiftly missing the travelers but imbedding itself deeply into a tree directly behind them. The second thing they saw was the group of raiders riding quickly towards the virtually undefended travelers. They had all of their swords raised and ready to fight the noble children and their guards.

----------------------------

Thank you for reading,

ColossalSky


	2. Chapter Two

A/N: Hey everyone. You all said so many nice things to me in your reviews. So all of you that reviewed this chapter is dedicated to you. Also if you have written any stories, I try to read some of the stories of my reviewers and return the favor. So look. At least one of your stories should have a review from me in there. If not, then I will get to it as soon as possible.

Disclaimer: You know the usual. The characters are Tamora Pierce's. The plot and the few characters you don't recognize are mine.

Enough yacking. So here is the story.

Different Destiny

Alanna looked desperately at her company. They all seemed way to shocked to do anything. Before they knew it the bandits were upon them trying to get them split up. Alanna's instincts took over and she found herself lashing out at the bandits that were trying to drag her from her saddle. One unfortunate one underestimated her and got in kicking distance. She easily took out his eye with the heel of her riding boot.

Coram unsheathed his big broadsword in one smooth motion, cutting down the thieves that dared get too close. But there were way too many of them. They teamed up on him, and moving as one they landed a spear through his sword shoulder.

Thom wasn't faring nearly as well as the rest. He had foolishly tried to kick an attacker, but the man was too quick for him and he had grabbed his foot and pulled him off his horse. Thom then spat in the man's face. Just as the man was about to cut him down, Maude ran in and took the knife for him.

Within minutes of the fight starting, it was finished. With a slightly bloodstained pair of twins, a burly manservant that had half of a spear still sticking up out of his shoulder while he was still tied up, and a Maude who was just barely hanging on to life with the knife wound slowly seeping out blood.

Alanna wistfully looked through the small cracks in her wooden crate that she had been in for at least two weeks. Quickly after they were beaten by the mountain bandits they were bound and gagged and shoved into the crates which were still her prison.

She looked at the one other figure that had been squished into the crate with her. It was her twin Thom. She was sure she looked somewhat in the state of disarray he was in now. He was bruised and beaten with his hair matted down with dirt and blood. His used to be good riding clothes has holes worn in them and dirt and animal dung all over them.

When Alanna really thought about it she guessed they were the lucky ones. Maude had been given the mercy stroke and was dead, while Coram had traveled in a similar crate but was then sold as a slave to a Scanran Noble.

Alanna and Thom both looked up when suddenly the top of there crate was loosened and hoisted off. They looked at each other confused. They were let out to go to the bathroom after dark. That was also when they were fed their scant rations. Now it was a little before midday.

They were quickly and forcefully dumped out of the crate in a heap of limbs when Alanna noticed were they were. At the ship docks.

All of a sudden a man came up and fastened makeshift collars on them that were radiating a strong magical force. As soon as the collar was latched around Alanna's neck she felt the radiation of the magic go away but she couldn't use her gift at all. She was absolutely sure that this was a slave collar.

After having the collars being put on and a leather leash was attached to them and they were being dragged aboard a large vessel. Alanna had always been squeamish of ships and balked as soon as they tried to lead her on to the plank. With one wave of the mages hand she felt the collar constrict tightly not allowing her to breath.

The mage gave a malicious laugh as he saw her fight for her breath. "So girly, you going to listen to what you are told to do or am I going to have to work my magic some more," he said as he released the magic.

She scowled at him but did what she was told anyway.

Many days later after braving another week in the ships hold, she staggered as her "handler" yanked on her collar leading her to a place she recognized as the slave market. She could barely muster the energy to care anymore.

Within the hour she had been sold with her brother to the slave market to be auctioned off at another time. The only bit of luck in the situation was that she and Thom were together.

After they were sold they were put in a small cage with a few other people. The twins looked at each other and started to discuss their situation.

"Alanna, what are we going to do. It is unlikely that we will be sold to the same people," said Thom.

"Well I don't see what we are going to do. We will just have to wait to go to the auction and deal with problems as they come," responded Alanna.

That night Alanna sent a prayer up to the Great Mother Goddess. "Please let me and Thom get sold to the same master."

The very next day the answer to Alanna's prayers came. An older man came wanting to purchase a couple of young slaves to be messengers for none other that the Prince of Carthak. (sp?)

Alanna and Thom were the only two children in the slave pens at the moment so they were sold to the man. As soon as he took a look at their clothes he took them to the seamstress and had regular commoner clothes bought for them. After they were bathed and changed he informed them that they were to serve a lesser son of the Emperor of Carthak. They would live at the University with him and do all of his cleaning and errand running.

As soon as the University came into sight Alanna gasped and decided that it couldn't be that bad to live here.

A/N: Phew it is done. Thank you to all my reviewers. If you have any opinions about what should happen please tell me in your reviews. I want to write what you want to read. Thank you. And since you reviewed so nicely the first time the next chapter will be posted no matter what.


	3. Chapter Three

A/N: I hope you all like the story so far.

Disclaimer: All characters you recognize are Tamora Pierce's. The ones you don't are mine. I also own the plot, I hope that is saying something.

Different Destiny

The twins were led into the castle and then to what looked like a corridor that housed the students' rooms. On the whole way there Alanna tried to remember the ways they came from, but found herself lost quickly.

The old man had introduced himself as David of Eagles Peak, one of the Emperors most trusted advisors. As he knocked he explained to the pair that they would be Prince Gregory's personal servants. They were told that the prince was one of the most powerful student mages on this side of the Great Inland Sea.

After knocking on the door a boy of seventeen came and answered. He had long scraggly black hair, was of medium height, and had dull, clouded over green eyes. "Yes Sir David, you need me for something?" asked the boy.

"Oh no, Gregory. Your Father just thought you would need a personal servant so he sent me to the slave market to get you one and I got these two. I hope they are up to your standards," replied the old man.

"Well that was mighty considerate of Father. I will take them from here," said Gregory.

The prince then ushered the two in his room and slammed the door in the older man's face. "I have to go to class. Make yourselves useful and do something," he said gesturing around his room that looked as if it hadn't been cleaned in years. He then stalked out of the room and down the hallway.

"Thom what are we going to do? What will Father do when he finds us missing? Will he even look for us?" asked Alanna.

"Most likely Father will not even care that we are missing. The crown doesn't even know we were born so we are stuck were we are. Look on the bright side Alanna, you don't have to go to the convent now," said Thom.


	4. Chapter Four

A/N: Hello to all who have been reading my story. I am so sorry I haven't been updating. I stopped reading Tamora Pierce fanfiction for a while. When I logged in I saw all of the nice reviews so I gave to story an update.

I would like to thank all those who reviewed the previous chapters. Without you I wouldn't have updated again.

Disclaimer: The Alanna universe belongs to Tamora Pierce and not me. Only the plot and the characters you don't recognize from the books are mine.

--------------------

It had been almost three weeks since Alanna had been sold to David and given to Gregory. She found that she had adjusted surprisingly easily to the daily routine. She got up in the morning and got herself ready for the day. Then she would go and tidy up Gregory's room while Thom would draw Gregory a bath and lay out clothes. Then she and Thom would run errands together and do other chores around the university to make themselves useful.

Right now she was eating her evening meal alone because Thom had been sent on an errand to the library to get a book. She hadn't met many kids her age around the university. The ones she had met were just visiting, and they didn't stop to talk to her.

As she finished up her meal she saw David gesturing to her from the door. She quickly walked over to him to see what he wanted.

"Alanna will you take this to Greg for me before you retire for the night?" he asked her.

"I'll do that right now my Lord," said Alanna.

--------------------

Alanna sighed as she looked out over the city. She had just finished her errand and the sun had just set and the sky had turned a pinkish color. This was her absolute favorite time of the day, it was so peaceful being able to watch the city come to life with the thieves looking for a place to find a good meal.

Suddenly, Thom came up beside her and quietly observed the surroundings.

"Alanna, what are you thinking about?" Thom questioned her.

"Just a few little things. Do you ever wish that we could go to live in the city, that we wouldn't have to work as slaves here in the palace? Maybe if Father never found out about our plan to switch places we would be back in Tortall," Alanna answered.

"Alanna, I always think about the what ifs. What if we never even thought of the plan, what if we were split up in the slave auction, what if we were sold to a mean slave master? We will never know what could have happened. I personally think we are pretty well off where we are. We only have to take care of Prince Gregory's things, and run errands for him," Thom said.

"I guess," Alanna answered glumly.

"Come on Alanna, let's go get some sleep"

--------------------

The next day Alanna was running the old bed sheets to the laundry room when someone ran into her and knocked all of the dirty clothing all over the hallway.

"Oh gods, I am so sorry for running into you miss," exclaimed the stranger.

"It's ok I just…. who are you I haven't seen you around here." Alanna stuttered as she observed the stranger. He was very tall and gangly looking to be in his late teens early twenties. He had shaggy black hair and a rather large nose.

"I guess that was rather rude of me not to introduce myself. I am Arram Draper. And your name is?" The young man asked her.

"I'm Alanna," she answered.

"That is a very pretty name. It was nice to meet you but I must get going to my classes, but first let me help you pick up your laundry," Arram said. After he helped her he said his farewell and hurried off down the hallway.

'Well that was a pretty weird meeting,' Alanna thought as she hurried off to finish all of her chores.

--------------------

I hope you liked the chapter. Please review and I will try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible.

ColossalSky


	5. Chapter Five

Here is the next chapter of Different Destiny. I tried to get it out as soon as possible for making you wait so long for the last update.

So without further ado….

--------------------

Alanna found the more time she spent at the University the more she didn't mind working there. She had little to due for daily chores and got most of the rest of the time off.

She still hadn't made any friends her own age besides Thom, but she was able to spend time in the stable with the horses.

One day after she had finished up on all of her chores she had wandered down to the stables.

Here it was where she ran into Arram for the second time. He was in the stall of a pony that was ridiculously small for him to ride.

She watched him try to coax the pony with an apple so it would let him get near it. The pony didn't seem to care about the apple, but would lash out with its teeth at the boy when he tried to get near it with a horse brush.

"I hope you aren't going to ride him," Alanna said startling Arram so much he jumped into the air and into the pony's biting range.

"For your information I am here for punishment. I have to clean this infernal beast, and it won't let me near it," Arram replied.

"Have you ever worked with horses before?" Alanna questioned. At the shake of his head she sighed and said, "Fine let me help you."

As she stepped into the stall the pony tried to take a bite out of her but she sidestepped the gnashing teeth and grabbed the brush from Arram.

"Now you just need to show him who the boss is. Don't let him bully you around," Alanna said while walking up to the pony and brushing in smooth even strokes. After a few minutes she handed the brush back and commanded Arram to try.

He took the brush from her and nervously got near the small animal. It was comical to watch an almost six foot man nervously approach this tiny pony. He reached out the brush and put it on the animals back carefully. Then he started to move the brush in small strokes. All the while the pony just watched him as if he was crazy.

"I'm doing it," were the next words out of his mouth.

Alanna just watched as he finished up grooming the horse without fault.

After he finished he thanked her quickly and said, "It was nice of you to help me with that and if there is anything that I can do to help you with to repay you all you need to do is ask."

"It was no problem, I love working with horses out in the stables. Now my brother that is another matter, he would have left you there to try to groom him yourself," Alanna answered. "He would much rather work with his gift any day."

"He has the gift. Has he ever trained it?" Arram asked.

"Well our old village healer trained us together but she couldn't teach us anymore when we left. Now we can't get anymore training anyway," said Alanna glumly.

"So you have the gift too. How much do you know?" he said, seeming to take interest in the twins' magic training.

"Mostly healing and such things. Maude told us that we had more gift than she did, and that we should seek to be trained more but Father wouldn't let us," she told Arram. Then she suspiciously asked, "Why do you want to know?"

"It's nothing really. The crown just usually doesn't allow slaves with the gift to be this close to people connected to the crown. Especially, if they are trained to use their powers."

"I didn't know that. Anyway I don't think they even know that we have the gift," Alanna replied uneasily.

"Don't worry I won't tell. You saved me from that abominable beast. Even if I told just Greg, he wouldn't care. The worst he would do to you would be to set you free in the lower city. Now if it were Ozorne that I told he would try to figure out how powerful you were, and if you would be of use to him," said Arram dismissing the thought of anything bad happening to Alanna or her brother because of their gifts.

"Thanks."

--------------------

When Alanna told Thom of her newest run in with Arram Draper he got an evil glint in his eye.

"Alanna what if we use our gifts to get out of being slaves. Most of the people here at the University are common people. If we had a strong enough gift maybe they would teach us," Thom ranted.

"Brother dear, if we were to tell them how do you know they wouldn't just throw us out on to the street. Arram said they didn't like to have slaves with the gift around the royals. It doesn't quite help our case that we are from Tortall," Alanna explained exasperated.

"Alanna, that is a wonderful idea, did you know that there is a professor from Tortall working here at this very moment?" said Thom gleefully. "I don't know his name but I overheard a servant complaining about bossy, know-it-all Tortallian professors."

"You know what Thom, it just might work. If we could tell him who we are he would get the crown to release us," Alanna said, starting to catch on to the way Thom's mind was working. "The only problem is we have to figure out who he is without alerting the others."

"We had better get started then sister dear."

--------------------

A/N: I would like to thank everyone who reviewed my last chapter so nicely. I would especially like to thank **SpectralLady, **and **Darth Tater **for correcting my mistake. For all those who caught it that I referred to Arram Draper as Numair Salmalin I am sorry and have fixed the mistake.

I have one question for you guys. A while back I found someone who made a timeline about when everything happened in all of the books and in what orders. If anyone knows of this it would help me write way faster, and I could update more often. (Hint, Hint) If you could leave me a review of who wrote this or what the title of it was it would help me a lot. If not I will have to look up everything in the books and that will take forever.

ColossalSky


	6. Chapter Six

I know that this chapter is a little longer in coming, but you should expect my chapters to come at this speed.

Now without further delay here is the next chapter.

--------------------

"Gods Thom," Alanna said exasperatedly as she flopped down into a pile of hay. "There is no way we are ever going to find this Tortallian professor you heard about. How do you know that you didn't just hear wrong? What if there is no Tortallian at the university? Hmm?"

"Think positively, I am sure we'll find someone here that is from Tortall. It is just a matter of time," he chorused cheerfully. At Alanna's annoyed glare he decided to add, "I don't see you coming up with any brilliant ideas."

"I hope you know that I have been thinking of a way to escape from this place ages before you even started to concoct this self-proclaimed brilliant idea of yours," Alanna squawked indignantly.

"Well then maybe you should go with some of your other plans. Go find your own way out of this mess. See if I care," Thom taunted.

"Maybe I will. And my ideas will work much better than any of you stupid idea anyway," Alanna said as she started down out of the barn door.

"Fine!" Thom shouted at her retreating back.

--------------------

Alanna quickly found a room where she could sit down and cool her fiery temper off. It was quite small with a large window off to the side. In front of the window were a couple of large rocking chairs. The room was mainly used for servants that liked to sew and mend.

As she sat there she tried to think of her escape plan. She must have been sitting there for a few hours because when she looked out the window again the sky had become a pinkish orange color.

Having not thought up a plan other than run away and hope for a miracle when the air collar started to choke off their air supply, she gave up finding a plan and started to just drift off into her own little word. She thought about everything that had happened to her for the past month or so.

Quickly deciding that she should think more about the plan later, she left the room in pursuit of her evening meal.

As she walked down the all lost in her thoughts, she was startled when a voice yelled, "Hey you, kid...uh...Alanna!"

When the voice yelled Alanna whirled around and saw Arram running down the hallway towards her.

"What do you need?" she asked him.

"Would you please quickly run a message down to the city for me? I promise it won't take too long. I would do it myself but I am restricted to the university for the next two weeks," Arram pleaded.

"I can't-"

"Please will you do this for me? I would owe you a humongous favor. This package is very important. It has to get down to the city," Arram interrupted.

"I mean that my slave collar will not let me go any farther than the gates of the university," Alanna said turning around to continue on her way down to the kitchens for supper.

"That isn't a problem. My family has slaves at home. I know how to lengthen the radius on slave collars. I can do that for you so you can deliver the package for me. It will only take me a second," he said moving closer to Alanna and stretching out his hand.

"You can? Fine, I will do it," Alanna conceded.

"Thank you," Arram replied, "Now, deliver this package to Canyon Street. To get there go past the marketplace two streets. Then turn right. Follow the street you are on until you see the sign for Canyon Street. Take the package to the inn called the Great Dragon, just ask for Leland. Then you can come right back.

"OK, if anyone asks tell them where I went," Alanna said.

"I will, just make sure the package gets to Leland. I can't stress how important it is to me that this package gets to him. And if anything looks a bit strange at the Great Dragon, um, just ignore it. While you're their watch out for you belongings," Arram warned her.

"What is the place where I am taking this package to used for?" Alanna suspiciously asked Arram.

"Well the people there aren't exactly one hundred percent right with the law. But if you just tell them that you are there to deliver a package to Leland they will leave you alone," Arram said as he grabbed hold of her slave collar and chanted some strange string of words Alanna had never heard before. "There you are free to go. The collar won't start choking you unless you try to leave the city."

"Whatever you say. I better get going," Alanna started to backtrack her steps

--------------------

Thom stomped down the hallway enraged at Alanna. He could not believe that she thought his plan was stupid. He would show her. He would find the Tortallian professor and then the professor would help both of them to get back home.

He came to one of the hallways of offices that he and Alanna hadn't looked through yet. He would never have guessed that there could be so many professors at the university. There were hundreds of offices that were in the university hallways.

Quickly picking another one of the many doors that littered the hallway, he found it unlocked and then entered.

Unlike he first believed he found that it was not an office like he first thought, he found that it was a rather large library. Deciding that he would look around at the books that were in the library instead of looking for the professor for the moment.

Going to the first shelf he started perusing the first shelf and quickly found a book called Battle Magic for Beginners.

'This will fit nicely into my plan,' he thought.

--------------------

I would like to thank my reviewers. Even though there are only two of you **SpectralLady **and **On top of cloud 9. **I would like to ask more of you to review my next chapter. It would inspire me to update faster. Please tell me what I m doing wrong, or what I am doing right. Or even something that you would like to see happen in the story. I am open to suggestion.

Again if anyone would know where I can find the story with thee timeline of the Tortall stories it would be very helpful. Or if you could answer some of my questions in a review.

-At what age did the group travel into the desert to see the bazhir (sp), then when did they defeat the yandzir (sp)

-How old was Alanna when she healed Jon from the sweating sickness

I know that I could find these answers myself, but I am too lazy to go to the library to check out the books.

Please Review

ColossalSky


	7. Chapter Seven

Here is the next chapter of Different Destiny.

--------------------

Alanna elbowed her way through the crowded marketplace, grumbling words she had heard the university stable men had said. She was so much shorter than the other people along the bazaar that they could not see her. Therefore she was run over and trampled on more times than she could count.

"Get out of my way!" she yelled at one rather heavy woman who was bartering over the price of some fabric. She had gotten in front of her and hadn't moved, and was squishing Alanna against the wall of the booth.

As the woman looked down at Alanna, she took in her bedraggled appearance. She was dressed in old breeches and an old shirt, had on no shoes, and her hair was really a sight to see. "Well I never," the woman started to say before Alanna pushed her a little to get just enough room to sneak out from the woman's clutches.

She set off going down the street at a slightly faster pace so she could clear the marketplace before she got wedged into a corner again. She emerged from the over-crowded marketplace streets, and started off at a run down the slightly less crowded streets branching out from the busy main road. She followed the directions Arram had given her and found the Great Dragon.

Looking at the building she couldn't believe that Arram would know anyone that would dare to stay here. The windows were either broken, or there was boards covering up the holes where the window should have been. The wooden front of the building had cracked and bloated. This made some of the boards uneven. You could tell that someone had fought a losing battle against the building about its repairs.

Sucking in a big breath she pushed through the door. As soon as she entered the room she had to cough because of all of the smoke. Her eyes watered as she tried to suck in deep breathes as the coughing fit subsided.

She looked through the veil of smoke that covered the room and saw that there were many people crowding up the room. She saw a man behind a desk and went up to him.

The man looked at her skeptically and raised his eyebrows at her. "What is a pretty little lass like you doing in a rough place like this?"

"I need to see a man named Leland. I ha-"

"What business do you have to see Leland for? He isn't the kind of man a girl such as you will want to associate with," the man said rubbing his forehead.

"What I meant to say is I have to see him to deliver this package to him," Alanna held the plainly wrapped bag up.

"I see," the man said understandably. "And who might this package to Leland be from?"

"The package is from Arram Draper. He said that it is very important that this package is delivered to Leland," Alanna explained, beginning to get impatient.

"Ah, Master Arram sent the package. In that case I will lead you right over to Leland."

The man quickly grabbed Alanna's hand and started to drag her over to the other side of the inn. She just followed obediently through the room to a table that was slightly larger than all of the others. There were many people seated at this table. At the center of the table sat a man that everyone seemed to be listening to. He had unruly black hair that was cropped unevenly close to his head. In fact it looked as if when a piece of it got too long for his liking he would just take a knife and lop it off. He looked to be fairly tall, for even sitting down he towered over the others that were sitting next to him.

"What does this lass need Peter? She doesn't look old enough to be one of the hired hands around here," the man she assumed to be Leland.

"The lass said she is delivering a package from Arram," Peter answered.

"Ah, I hope that is what I think it is," he held out his hand to Alanna. "When kid, give me that package. I don't want to wait all day."

Alanna hastily reached out and handed him the package. Leland thanked her quickly and ripped the wrapping off of the package. He took out a vile of clear liquid and smiled evilly. "Finally, I thought he would never get this to me. I have been waiting for weeks."

"Leland, what in the devils is that stuff. I don't like the look that you got on that face of yours," a shorter dark skinned man who was sitting on Leland's left asked him.

"None of you darn business Danny. If you must know this is my secret plan," Leland said as if that should mean everything.

Alanna started to back away from the table to get out of the room without being noticed when Leland turned to her quickly. "Girl, what is your name. I need to be able to repay you for getting this to me. You look like you could use some help."

"My name is Alanna. And what do you mean repay me?" Alanna questioned.

Not looking where she was going she saw she had almost backed into a man that was throwing knives a rather large target painted on one wall. As he loosed the knife it flew strait to the center of the target and embedded itself deeply into the dilapidated wood.

"I don't ever forget something that someone has ever done for me. I never get indebted to anyone. Anything you need within reason I will help you get." Leland clarified.

"Could you, maybe teach me to throw knives like that guy can?" Alanna's eyes lit up.

"What would a lass like you want with throwing knives?" Leland said suspiciously.

"I want to learn how to defend myself. And if you could teach me to do anything it would be a great help to achieve my goal," Alanna said politely. "Please, that would be it. I would never ask for anything again," she whined.

"Fine lass. If you come down here once in a while I will teach you some fighting tricks. But if you get in trouble with your parents I am not the one to blame," he said to her. "We will start some other time. It is too late now. You should be heading home."

Alanna thanked Leland profusely as she ran out of the inn. The crowds did not even bother her as she ran through the marketplace and back up to the university.

--------------------

A/N: I would like to thank everyone who reviewed my last chapter. I feel that my story is coming along quite nicely so far. I would appreciate it if anyone had any constructive criticism for me. I want to know what mistakes I am making and how I can fix them. I have decided to start and answer reviewers as you can see.

**On top of cloud 9:** Thank you for being such a faithful reviewer to me. I went and took the poll for your story. I hope you get the update soon.

**SpectralLady:** You answered my questions for me. Yay. Thank you for doing that. It helped a little.

**Elfsquire90:** Thank you for clarifying the ages on Alanna for me. I'm thinking of adding some romance. Not quite sure yet. But Alanna is only 11 right now. Probably when she gets a little older.

Please Review. It helps to motivate me to write faster. I would like to get a few more reviews than I normally get before I update next time. I know you are reading this. Now please review!


	8. Chapter Eight

Here is the next chapter. I have it set back in Tortall.

Enjoy!

--------------------

_Lord Alan of Trebond,_

_We had heard news of a son that you were sending to train at the Royal Palace to be a knight. This news came to us in a letter that was signed personallyby you._

_Your son, Thom has not arrived here yet and it is well into the new season of page training._

_If you are still going to have your son attend our training this year please send us another letter along with young Thom. If he is not going to attend__please send us a letter in your next post to the city._

_Sincerely,_

_Duke Gareth the Elder_

'What in the world. Why am I getting a letter about Thom not being at his training? I sent him to Corus months ago.' Lord Alan thought confusedly.

He briskly walked out of his cluttered office and down the hallway. "Walter!" he yelled looking for his personal serving man.

"Yes, my Lord?" he said looking at Lord Alan quizzically. "What did you need me for?"

"Walter, did I remember to send Thom to knight training? I would have sworn that I did. It must have just slipped my mind." Lord Alan said running his hand through is thinning reddish brown hair.

"My Lord, you sent young Master Thom away almost a month and a half ago. He didn't want to go, but I made sure he was well on his way. Mistress Alanna went to the convent at the same time. Don't you remember?" Walter intoned giving Lord Alan a look that clearly meant he was deciding if he should sent him to an institution in his old age.

"I have just received a letter from the man who trains the pages and squires saying that Thom has not yet arrived," Lord Alan contemplated. "I wonder what happened."

"Sir, maybe you should send a letter to the convent to see if Mistress Alanna has arrived there yet. If not then you at least know that both of them are missing. And they are probably together," advised Walter. "I will go and get your writing supplies out of the drawing room so you can compose the letter."

"Yes, that is a good idea. And while you are at it, go and get my traveling cloak. Also, ready my bags for a long trip. Then have one of the stable men ready my carriage. I need to go to Corus to meet with Duke Gareth," Lord Alan ordered as he walked down the hall to get some of his traveling things ready. "I will want to leave immediately," he called over his shoulder.

--------------------

The headmistress of the convent saw a letter on her desk that had an unknown seal on it. Opening the letter she found out that it was from Lord Alan of Trebond. 'Strange, I do not think that there is even a Lady of Trebondattends theconvent at the moment," she thought.

As she quickly read through the letter she got more and more confused. Throwing down the offending piece of paper she got out her own parchment and prepared to send it to Corus as the letter from Lord Trebondspecified.

--------------------

Lord Alan looked over the hill and onto the great city of Corus. It was just as he remembered it. With the winding city streets, the temple district leading up the hill, and then the Royal Palace crowning the hill in all of its magnificent glory.

With a sigh he signaled to the driver to head up to the palace. Then with a jerk the horses started to pull the carriage onto the main road into the city of Corus.

It was strange for a man who has not been in a room with more than six people at once in fifteen years to be suddenly immersed in the bustling marketplace of Corus.

The horses obediently pulled the small, wooded carriage all the way up the road and to the gates of the palace.

The guards at the gates quickly recognized the Trebond seal on the side of the horse drawn carriage and opened the gates wide enough to let it through. Then the driver steered the horses over in front of the stable yard.

As the Lord Trebond was helped out of the carriage he found a serving man and marched right over to him. "I need to see Duke Gareth immediately," he commanded the man.

"Do you have an appointment to see the Duke, sir?" the man asked. "He has not said that he was expecting anyone."

"He is the man that is in charge of the page training, is he not. If that is so I need to speak to him concerning important business that he has written me of," Lord Alan said pompously.

"Right away sir. Just follow me," the man said. "We will have to see if he is busy or not. If he is busyyou will have to wait until he is ready to see you."

The man led Lord Alan down a maze of hallways. Even though Lord Alan had spent his own time as a page and a squire training in the palace he was soon lost. When they started to get to doors that looked like offices of some kind Lord Alan started to look around hoping to catch sight of the Duke.

"Here is his office. He is not busy so he can see you now," the man said.

"Thank you," he said to the man that had helped him. Then he pushed into the office door. "Duke Gareth I have just received a letter from you that concerned me. I sent my son, and onlyheir mind you, to you for training almost two months ago. What in the blazes do you mean he is not here?"

"Alan, I am sure that he never arrived here. This is surely troubling news. The only conclusion that I can come to is he must have been attacked on the way here. And was…waylaid," Gareth the Elder said.

"Well something must be done about this…this horrible occurrence," Lord Alan all but yelled.

"I will get My Lord Provost to have men search for your son as soon as possible. We will find out what happened to them," Duke Gareth said determinedly.

--------------------

Ok, that was the next chapter. Not very exciting but it needed to be there. Is it just me or did I use the word carriage way to many times. I could'nt think of a better word. Oh well.

I loved all of my reviews. You guys keep me writing this. Thank you so much for doing that for me. And all of you, who read and don't review, please review! It would make me so much happier

Please send me constructive criticism. (CC) I'm too lazy to type it from now on!

**SpectralLady**: Thank you for the CC. Next time he fits into the story I will try todescribe him more.And you will see who Leland is!

**On top of cloud 9: **I love your story, I can't wait for the next chapter. Thank you for reviewing my story!

**random89**: Thank you for reviewing! I am trying to make the plot as origingal as I can. I am tired of reading the same plot over and over just with one different twist.

Do any of you think that I should go back and fix my first few chapters? I know that my borders didn't show up and I probably have horrible spelling and grammar mistakes.


	9. Chapter Nine

I have been forgetting to do my disclaimer for my last few chapters so here it is

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Tamora Pierce besides the plot and a select few of the characters.

--------------------

Alanna was so happy about Leland agreeing to teach her how to fight that she was skipping back onto the university grounds. Not really watching where she was going she had to stop and observe her surroundings to figure out were on the grounds she ended up on.

She saw the wooded walls and smelled the musky scent of hay and animals. Concluding on this information that she was in the stables she decided that she would visit one of the horses for a while.

Trying to find one of the stalls she knew that some of the nicer horses were kept. Astounded that this was a part of the barn she had never been in before. 'I guess when you think you know everything about a place you turn around and something slaps you in the face to remind you that you don't.'

She saw that the stalls were made differently. They looked to be constructed out of a heavier wood and were way larger than any stall that would house a horse or other barnyard animal.

The smells didn't exactly match that of a common farm animal that Alanna had ever met before.

Hearing a loud thump in one of the stalls she nervously approached the heavy wooden structure. Carefully climbing onto one of the carts that was set where the wall met the partition of the stall.

Even on top of the cart she couldn't see into the stall. Making a spur of the moment decision she reached up and gripped the top of the stall wall. Grunting as she lifted herself up to the small gap that was between the top of the stall and the roof, and the floor of the barn loft.

The stall had no light in it and the dancing light from the central part of the barn didn't quite light up the large space.

She could hear some sort of animal pacing around the bottom of the pen. By the sound of it there was no hay on the bottom of the pen because she could hear claws tapping on the ground as the animal paced.

Squinting as hard as she could she still couldn't catch a glimpse of what the animal could really be. She was concentrating so hard on figuring out what the animal was that she almost fell in when the unknown creature looked up at her and growled. She could see the glint of long, sharp teeth in the dim light.

She hastily jumped back down onto the cart right as the animal launched itself at the side of the cage. It hadn't gotten close to the top of the pen but Alanna didn't want to take her chances.

Leaning up against the stall opposite the one she had climbed on she waited for her heart to stop trying to jump out of her ribcage.

Not wanting to find out what other kind of dangerous creatures this strange barn held she started for the door she came in and back-tracked her steps until she found the servants entry at the side of the castle that she could use to get into the university.

--------------------

The next morning Alanna was doing some of the chores the cooks had set her to do. Since Gregory wasn't that much of a neat freak and liked to be left alone he didn't need two servants. Thom was way enough for his morning chores so she was given out on loan to the cooks.

She was running bucketfuls of water to the kitchen from the well when she heard someone running frantically somewhere behind her. Ignoring them she kept lugging the heavy bucket to the kitchen when that someone knocked into her from behind causing her to drop the bucket and spill it all over her one pair of threadbare breeches that the kitchen staff deemed 'appropriate' for her to wear in the kitchens.

"Oh, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to run into you, Alanna. But I need to know if you got the package delivered to Leland," Arram said hurriedly as he tried to catch his breath.

"Yes I got the package delivered. It was really easy for me to find the inn. I liked to get out of the university grounds. It was a welcome change to the same old place for many months," Alanna rambled on.

"Great, now I will just take the spell off of your slave collar. Then I can get to my classes and you can go on doing whatever you do in the mornings," Arram stepped closer to Alanna and reached his hand out.

"About that…" Alanna started stepping away from Arram's outstretched hand. "Would you leave my collar how it is now?" At Arram's confused look she continued. "I mean would you please keep my collar so I can go out into the city once in a while. I wouldn't run away or anything, I just want a little more freedom."

"I could get into a lot of trouble for tampering with your slave collar. I could get kicked out of the university," Arram said.

"I would never tell anyone it was you who changed my collar radius. And anyway I won't get caught," Alanna pleaded to Arram. "I will count it as your debt to me. That will be your repayment."

"I guess it couldn't hurt. Just make sure no one finds out about me changing it," Arram said. "Now I'm late for my next class. I need to get going. See you later."

--------------------

A/N: Thank you for all of your reviews. It really helps me to write faster.

**SpectralLady:** That is a good point. And I do have an answer. I decided that when Lord Alan found that Thom and Alanna were going to switch places he switched them back and then sent the letters in advance to make sure they didn't switch on him again.

Please review this chapter and I would like you to tell me what I am doing wrong and right.

I am going to be gone starting Sunday so you can expect the next update either late Tuesday night or on Wednesday sometime depending how long it takes me to get it typed out.

ColossalSky


	10. Chapter Ten

Hello all of my readers. Here is the next chapter of Different Destiny.

This is a version that I didn't check very closely for errors. So if you think the spelling and grammar is horrible that is why.

--------------------

Alanna ran hurriedly down the street. She was going to be late again! If the marketplace wasn't so crowded at all times of the day she could move through the wide street way easier.

Leland was going to kill her if she was late yet again.

She hadn't even been able to get out of the kitchens until nearly twenty minutes after the time she should have been at Leland's.

That was the main reason she was stuck wearing the gods forsaken dress that the cooks and kitchen hands had started to make her wear. She didn't have time to change into one of the few pairs of breaches that she had smuggled from Thom's room.

Finally arriving at the Great Dragon she entered the musty smoke filled main room. Giving the room a quick once over for were Leland would be sitting tonight she started into the dense cloud of smoke.

Finding him in one corner where he had a pile of weapons ranging from throwing knives and stars to bows and arrows. It looked as if he even had a rusted old sword in the pile. The sword looked so old that if you gave it one good swing against another sword it would fall apart.

Alanna would have felt guilty for being late and making Leland wait. That is if he didn't have three pretty serving girls flocked around him. He was showing of his weapons prowess and all of his scars he had gotten in various bar room brawls.

"Oh, you must be so brave!" exclaimed one of the girls.

"I can't believe you fought that man with just this tiny knife and won!" another gushed.

"Well ladies, it would be fair to say that the odds were against me. I don't know how I pulled through. If it wasn't for my expert skill, I don't think I would be standing here today," Leland bragged.

Alanna stepped up to him and cleared her throat.

Surprised Leland looked up. "I'm sorry ladies, but this young gal needs me to teach her how to defend herself. I may see you later."

"That is so sweet. You are going to help her out," the third girl said.

"Well, you know me. I can't defend everyone from harm, so I have to make sure that some can defend themselves," Leland said.

As the girls walked away from the table in the dim corner Alanna gave Leland a stern look. "Did you have fun showing off to the local girls Leland?" she asked.

"As a matter of fact I did. They appreciate my expert skills in defense. At least someone around here treats me with a little respect," he stated imperiously.

"What are you going to teach me tonight? Does it have anything to do with that sword?" Alanna asked excited about actually learning how to wield a real weapon.

"Yes that is what I am going to teach you. Just not tonight. I don't think this particular sword will hold up under any vigorous training," as he said this he picked up the rusty weapon and gave it a swing. As the sword swung it hit one of the old candle lights that were hanging on the ceiling. Then the wax that had collected on the top of the candles flew off and spattered all of the table, chairs, weapons, and Alanna.

"Okay, I guess we can wait to train with the sword," Alanna said. "Are we going to do throwing knife practice? You know I have been practicing in my free time at the university. I am getting quite good if I do say so myself."

"Stop bragging kid. Now I know that you are getting good at your throwing knives. That is why we were going to do hand to hand tonight. But seeing what you are wearing we will have to save that for another time," Leland explained.

"Oh, then what do you have all of these things out for?" Alanna asked while she stepped closer to the table to inspect some of the various things he had laying out.

"I was thinking of starting to train you into some of these things. We may as well start that tonight," Leland picked up an old long knife that was curved slightly. "This should work. It is kind of like a sword but just smaller."

They practiced with various weapons late into the night until Alanna was getting tired and had to start to go home.

"Bye kid!" Leland shouted after her retreating back. "You are doing better than I thought you would."

--------------------

A/N: I would like to thank my reviewer. I would really appreciate it if you guys would review more. There are people that put me on their alert list and they have never even reviewed my story.

I will be gone on vacation for a week, so don't expect an update until probably the Sunday after next. I will try to get another chapter out before I go. I will try harder if I get a few reviews.

ColossalSky


	11. Chapter Eleven

Here is the next chapter. It is kind of short, but I couldn't type anymore because I have to leave now.

--------------------

Alanna quickly snuck back into the palace after her secret meeting with Leland. She found her way into the servant sleeping and living quarters quickly.

She found she was thinking about how much fun it was for her to learn how to use the many weapons that Leland had.

As she thought of all of this she wasn't watching where she was going. When she neared her rooms she ran into someone hard and fell over.

When she picked herself up off the ground she was ready to yell at the person who had run into her. "What do you think you are doing, running around on the dead….Thom?" Alanna started.

"Sister, what in the world are you doing out of your room? You told me you were going to retire for the night hours ago," Thom asked suddenly confused as he recognized his twin sister.

"It doesn't matter what I am doing. I would like to know what you are doing. And what is with those books that you are carrying. They must weigh at least ten pounds," Alanna ranted as she sized up the items Thom was carrying with him.

"Well if you promise you won't tell…" at Alanna's pointed look he continued. "I will tell you once we get back to your rooms. But only if you tell me what you are doing out tonight too.

"Fine, let's go before anyone else sees us," Alanna said as she looked around the hallway nervously.

When the two twins entered Alanna's room she looked around quickly. Coming to the conclusion that she had not left any of her knives or other weapons laying around she let Thom in the rest of the way.

"Well" Thom started, "I am out because I am reading these books. No one else knows so you can not tell anyone that I am doing it. I think that slaves' learning to read in Carthack is illegal."

"I won't tell your secret if you won't tell anyone mine," Alanna told Thom. When Thom nodded his head vigorously she continued, "I was out in the city…"

"What in the blazes were you doing out there? I thought that your collar was set so you couldn't leave the university grounds," Thom pondered.

"Well, someone I know changed it for me. I can only get into the city. I was running an errand for him once and he changed it," Alanna sat on the bed and started to take off her shoes.

"Do you think that he could take off the charm permanently? I mean if he could than we could get out of here so fast. And then we could go back to Tortall even." Thom crowed happily.

"I do not think he would do that for me, or you. He only left my collar as it was because he owed me a debt for risking going out into the city," Alanna said dejectedly while Thom's expression sunk.

"Would you know what he said as he lengthened the collar radius? If you did I could duplicate the spell or incantation or something," Thom was pacing around the room. "I have been looking for a way to get rid of my collar since I found the library. I have searched tome after tome. Everywhere I Look it says that it is a secret that most families take to the grave with them. They only pass it on to some of their children."

"He said something I did not understand. It was like a different language or something. I don't know," Alanna was getting exasperated.

"Okay then. Would you explain to me why you were out in the city then. I would like to know," Thom stopped pacing in defeat.

"Well, when I delivered the package that Arram gave me I met someone that promised that they would teach me to use some different kinds of weapons better. That is honestly were I went tonight," Alanna confessed.

"It figures. That certainly sounds like one of the stupid plans you would follow out. How long have you been meeting this guy that teaches you these fighting techniques? And are you sure that you are safe with him," Thom demanded.

"Yes I am. He may not be the most respectable person in all of Carthack, but he is always nice to me," Alanna informed Thom. "He even gave me some of his old knives so that I could practice while I was staying at the university or he was out doing something and couldn't train with me.

"If you think you know what you are doing than I will not stop you. But Alanna please be careful. I need your help to get out of here. I don't think that I could find a way out of here without you," Thom said walking towards the door. "I will see you in the morning sister. Please stay out of trouble until then."

"Bye Thom, I will see you in the morning," Alanna called after him as he closed her door and went to his own room.

--------------------

A/N: I will be going to a family reunion for the next week or so. I will not have much time to write so I am not quite sure when the next chapter will be out. I will try to get it done fast for you.

As always I would like to thank all of my reviewers from the last chapter, and remind everyone that has read this chapter to review. Just give me one more minute of you time and leave me a little note. I will make me happy.

Thank You

ColossalSky


	12. Chapter Twelve

A/N: I am so sorry to all of my readers. I haven't updated in the longest time. I got so caught up in all of my activities that I had no time to write the story at all.

Without further ado, here is chapter twelve of Different Destiny.

--------------------

Alanna walked cheerfully down the hallway whistling quietly. She was in such a good mood because of her most recent late night weapons training had been progressing beautifully. Leland even said that she was doing such a good job that she should start finding a better sparing partner. He had even given her some weapons to keep as her own as long as she didn't get caught.

The only downside of the whole morning was that she was still stuck in one of the dresses that the kitchen workers had supplied her with. She had stolen some trousers from Thom, but the help still said it was unseemly for a girl to run around showing her legs.

She had finished her early morning chores and was on her way to meet Thom. He had insisted that they join up on their efforts to escape instead of working on their own. "This helped us a lot anyway,' she thought sarcastically. So far all that she and Thom had accomplished so far was to learn some stupid spells, that she saw no use for anyway, and to get thrown out of so many rooms for snooping around.

Alanna quickly got into the barn making sure that none of the stable hands spotted her so they couldn't find something pointless for her to do, or to order her back up to the universities main servant quarters.

Keeping a firm watch on where she was going she grabbed a hold of the small braided rope that led up into the loft. She had gotten pretty skillful at climbing up the rope. It took a lot of upper body strength.

Alanna could not resist snorting when she remembered the first time that Thom had tried to get up the ladder. Her brother had taken tons of time and when he had gotten halfway up his hands got sore and he had to let go. Her back had hurt for days after she had to haul Thom up to the loft herself.

As she grabbed hold of the planks of wood that made up the floor of the loft and hauled herself up she noticed that Thom had not arrived yet. "Argh," she made a frustrated noise.

Deciding to make herself comfortable and wait she collapsed into one of the many hay bales that the university stable hands had hauled up here in preparation to the quickly approaching winter.

It seemed like ages until she heard the grunting of Thom trying to get himself up the coarse rope.

"It's about time you decided to deign me with you presence," Alanna spat at her brother angrily. "What in the world took you so long to get here? I have been waiting for almost half of an hour."

"Well, dear sister, I have chores to do around the palace that need to get done before I can go wandering around in search of adventure," Thom retorted, unfazed by Alanna's short temper.

"Next time you are going to be late tell me. If the kitchen staff sees me missing for longer than I need to be they are going to start keeping closer tabs on me," Alanna responded. "Now let's get down to business. What was so unearthly important that I had to meet you up here anyway? It better be important."

"It is, but first, Alanna have you noticed anything out of the ordinary going on around here? Anything at all because I think it could be very important in helping us to escape," Thom questioned his sister with a grim expression on his young face.

"Not recently Thom. There is always something a little weird going on around here. I mean with all of the visiting nobles there is bound to be some conspiracies going on," Alanna answered. "I don't really think that any of them are that important."

Thom looked around the loft as if checking for a stray stable hand to be listening in on their conversation. "Alanna, I heard Ozorne talking to another university student about some big time project that they are making. It sounded as if they are doing something dangerous," Thom responded.

Alanna let out a large breath, exasperated. "Thom, Ozorne is always up to something at the university. If he wasn't spreading rumors about some big dangerous project he is working on I would be worried."

"You don't get it. This sounded different. He wasn't bragging about something fantastic that he was concocting," Thom tried to explain. "He sounded scared. As if he did something wrong and didn't know how to fix it."

"I don't know Thom. This sounds like desperation on your part to me." Alanna started.

"Come on, think. Have you heard or saw anything unusual around here. From what I heard it sounded like they were keeping something locked up away from the main building," Thom explained in one last attempt to get through to his stubborn sister.

"Even if the Prince is getting himself in some trouble or the other, how will this help us. There is no way that we can do anything to help clear up any mess that the Prince can't get someone with more experience to help him with," Alanna countered logically.

Thom looked crestfallen at Alanna's quick dismissal of the plan that he thought was so foolproof. "Just tell me anything that you know that is strange," he begged his sister.

"Well I find it very strange that you would resort making something up to give yourself some hope of escape," Alanna started.

"Would you please be serious for once," Thom snapped, at his wits end with his sister. "I did not know that you were such a pessimist."

Alanna rolled her eyes at her brother. "Fine, now that I think about it I guess I did find something weird a while ago," Alanna summarized. " I didn't think very much of it at the time, but one day when I was walking back from the city I wandered into a part of the barn that I have never been to before. While I was in there I heard something weird and investigated. It was some kind of strange animal. I don't know what it would be because I didn't get a very good look at it."

Thom folded his arms and concentrated on what his sister just told him. "I do not know how that has anything to do with what I heard, but there may be some connection that we just are not seeing right now. I will think about it and tell you what I come up with."

"Fine Thom. I hope that helped your cause a little bit," Alanna said doubtfully.

--------------------

A/N: Once again I can't tell you how sorry I am that I have neglected this story for the longest amount of time. I am just not getting any inspiration on it. I feel like this chapter came out all wrong and rewrote it multiple times.

I hope to not have to abandon this story. I enjoy writing and hope to get the chapters out to my readers as fast as possible, but you have to understand that in the winter my schedule is very busy, and I have virtually no free time for writing.

I will not be able to guarantee when the next update with come. Please keep reviewing and I will keep updating. The more reviews the faster I will update. You guys are really my inspiration for writing this stuff.

ColossalSky


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter 13

-----------------------------

Alanna walked briskly across the sprawling University lawns ahead of Thom by about six paces. She was trying to remember exactly where she had seen the strange area of the barns. It took some time for her to remember this.

"I think that the place was somewhere over in those buildings on the other side of those gardens," Alanna said confused as she stopped to let Thom catch up with her. "But I'm just not really sure."

"Are you sure sister?" Thom asked after he stopped beside Alanna and caught his breath. "The only other time I ever got near those buildings was when I was delivering a message to one of the University students that are trying to become a black robe. I think that those buildings are used for top secret experiments."

Alanna looked around trying to see a way to get to the building quickly without having to pass through the gardens. If they tried to walk through the high traffic area of the garden they were sure to get seen and sent back to their chores. "So, do you think that we should go investigate?"

Thom straightened out his shirt that had become disheveled at having to keep up with his sister. "I'm really not sure Alanna. Do you think that they will even let us get near the place if they are conducting some kind of experiment? If something is up then they will have the place heavily guarded."

"Well we came this far. We might as well sneak around a little and see if we can find anything else out. I mean if all else fails we can go back to searching for a different way out of this place," Alanna said running a hand through her ever growing hair.

"I guess, but if we're caught don't think that I'm not blaming this idea all on you," Thom warned.

"We are not going to get caught if you just follow me and keep quiet," Alanna yelled over her shoulder already on the way towards the mysterious buildings. She looked around for a second before she decided on the best way to get around the majestic gardens.

Thom blew out a breath exasperated before running down the small hill that they were standing on to catch up with his sister.

As the pair neared the buildings they noticed that there was an obvious lack of people around the buildings. They were still very careful about where they walked making sure to stay out of an area where they would be easily spotted. Alanna led Thom behind one of the few shrubs that were planted around the entrance to the buildings. She quickly poked her head above the bush until the entrance to the large front building was in sight.

"I don't think that there is anyone over there, but I don't have a very good view from here," Alanna whispered to her brother.

Thom then repeated Alanna's action to take his own look over the hedge. "There has to be someone here. Last time I was only delivering a message to a student and they had a guard at the door that wouldn't let me within ten feet of the door. Something is off here." Thom looked over the hedge one more time quickly. "Um… Alanna are you sure that this is the place where something strange was going on? I mean you could have gotten your places confused or something. You said that it was some type of a barn."

"I know, but I was coming back in from the city at the time. I must have been coming from the other direction. I expressly remember that I had to sneak through the gardens to get back to the kitchens," Alanna countered. "It must just be a different building. This one is pretty big. I bet there is a barn right behind this building. There has to be."

"Ok, well I don't think that we should risk going through this building in broad daylight. We don't want to be caught. That could mean we could get split up and sold for snooping around where we shouldn't be," Thom said worriedly. "We could sneak around the other side though and see if we can find a building that looks like a barn."

"Fine, but if we do it doesn't mean that we have to investigate. What good could knowing what the black robes in training are up to do for us. It will not help to escape this place," Alanna said.

All Thom had to answer this pessimistic statement was a mischievous grin and saying, "Sister dear, where is your sense of adventure?"

Alanna rolled her eyes at her brother's attitude and started for the right side of the building where there were more things to hide behind in case someone would come along. She successfully led her brother to the side of the building and then around the other side. She heard something snap behind her and whirled around quickly. It was only Thom who had stepped on a brittle twig. She frowned at him and put her finger up to her lips to make a shushing noise. Quietly picking her way around the other building Alanna saw it was one almost identical to the one before. She didn't let this stop her and went around the next building. Finally seeing what she was looking for she held out a hand behind her to stop Thom.

"I'm pretty sure that this is it. Do you want to go in first or should I? It does not look like there is anyone in there." Alanna said quietly.

All of a sudden the twins heard voices from within the building. It sounded like two men talking quickly. Then one opened the door to the front of the barn-like building and started walking briskly up the small hill leading up to the gardens and the main building of the University.

"On second thought maybe we shouldn't go in there now. Let's wait until dark to come back when the building will be deserted. Anyway it is almost time for me to go to start my evening chores," Alanna made the excuse.

"I suppose that would be the best option. But you have to promise to come down here with me some time when we won't get caught," Thom said obviously not wanting to leave this mystery unsolved. "I really don't care if this won't help us to get out of this place. It is the closest thing that I am going to get to being a great sorcerer. Think of it as another great adventure. You love breaking rules; you are always running down to the lower city to learn how to use knives and such. Now since your dreams are being fulfilled, I think it is your duty to help mine come true too."

"Whatever you say brother dearest, I will help. Set a time and I will come to help you on your big adventure. Let's just get back up to the servants quarters before they come looking for us," Alanna said to her brother. "We wouldn't want to ruin the start of fulfilling your dreams with all of the extra duties you will acquire if you are late to doing your chores."

---------------------------------

A/N: Well, I guess I have reentered the world of the fandom once more. I have been so busy the last few months. I figured I should let the readers know that I haven't abandoned the story and plan to continue writing it.

On the next order of business, I know that some people may find my story confusing. To me it all makes perfect sense because, well I know what I generally want to happen. If any of you have a question that you would like answered just drop me a review and I will try my best to find a way to answer the question.

Thank you to all of my lovely reviewers. You are the reason for this story continuing. As always I hope you review and tell me what you think of my story.

ColossalSky


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter 14

--------------------------------------

It was nearing sundown when the Trebond twins met up once more. Alanna was busy scrubbing one of the pots that had been used to cook the evening meal. Thom had just finished running errands for the night and had gone to see what his sister was doing. As he saw her busy doing work he quickly went to the library to grab some paper and something to write with. He sloppily penned a message to his sister, and then walked back into the kitchens to deliver it to her. As he slipped the message into her hand he hurriedly whispered, "How long do you think that you are going to be?"

Her answer was to point at the mountain of pots, pans, plates, and silverware that had to be washed before Alanna could retire for the night. This gesture was accompanied by Alanna gritting out, "Estimate," before dropping another pan into the soapy water.

"Ok then, I guess I will see you later," Thom said running out of the washroom before his sister could decide that she needed his help to finish if she was going to go with him to the mysterious barn.

Thom set off at a brisk walk down the hall to the library again. His thought was he might as well get some research done if he was going to have to wait a few hours for Alanna. He opened the door and set off to the back of the library to the section on the sorcery. He was determined to get out of being a slave at the University one way or another. He would have to admit that he was going to miss having access to all of the great tomes that the University libraries held.

-----------------------------------

Alanna was so bored she could almost scream. She had finally put the last of the pans she was to wash into the water when one of the laundry maids came in. Now usually Alanna had no business with these older women and they left her alone. Well today was a different story. As soon as the maid saw that Alanna was the only person in the kitchens that was still on duty she came over to her.

"After you're done with that I need a little help hanging up some linen bed sheets to air over night. They need to be hung up immediately if they are to dry by tomorrow morning. Come along," she didn't even stop to think that Alanna might not be done in the kitchen. She just grabbed her arm and practically drug her all of the way out of the building designated to cooking and eating.

Now she was standing on a ladder pinning white linen sheets onto the clothes lines. She had been at this job for near an hour before it was finally pronounced that she had done a good enough job and she was free for the night.

Alanna, not wanting to be caught and coerced into doing further chores, fled the scene as soon as the announcement was made. After she deemed that she had gotten far enough away from the laundry maids she dug the note Thom had left her out of her apron pocket.

She quickly read the letter:

_Dear Alanna,_

_I have finished my duties for the night now. I was planning on running to the barn-like building that we scouted earlier today. If you have no objections to this then we will have to arrange a time to meet, and a place to meet at. Anywhere in the servant quarters is out of the question. If we meet there we are sure to get caught. There is almost always someone up and roaming the halls. _

_I was thinking that we should meet sometime around the first bell of the night. The guard shifts change at the twelfth bell of the evening, please don't ask me how exactly that I know this. That means that all of the guards should all be at their positions by the time that we want to get out. Don't want some soldier to catch us running around._

_I think that we should meet at the regular place in the barn loft. Well on second thought I don't want to climb the rope again today, so meet me by the front of said barn a little after the first bell._

_If you have any objections to my plan, even though I myself think it is genius and spent my evening planning it out, I will be somewhere between my rooms, the library, or even at Prince Gregory's rooms if he calls._

_Your Loving Brother, _

_Thom _

Reading the letter Alanna saw that it would be only a little while until she had to meet Thom. She only had time to run into the servant quarters and find the black clothes that she stored between her mattress and the floor in the room that she shared with a few other female servants and slaves that she had never taken the time to get to know. She had been moved out of her old rooms recently and taken to the new ones once it became obvious that Gregory had no need for her near him.

Alanna started to her rooms setting a nice paced jog the rest of the way to the servants' quarters. At the front she took the left turn to get into the women's side of the building. It took her a while to climb the three flights of stairs up to the room that had been assigned as her own. As soon as she got there she noticed that there were already three of the four girls that shared her room asleep on the mats that they were given. She crept silently over to the mat that she claimed as her own, lifted it up and snatched the only pair of clothes that she kept hidden under it. All of the things that she kept hidden under the mat were things that Leland had given her to practice with.

Making sure that none of the girls had woken up she quickly and quietly slipped out of her frock and into the pair of breeches and the peasant shirt. Then, as a second thought, she lifted the thin mattress back up and took out one of the small knives that she kept hidden under there. She then slipped the knife into the belt of the breeches she was wearing, just in case, and declared herself ready to go.

She knew that it wasn't quite time for her to meet her brother yet. She also knew that Thom was notorious for being late to almost every meeting time that she had set with him. After deciding that it wasn't yet time to meet her brother she sat down and wait for the bells to chime before she started out to meet him. Anyway, she didn't know if she was exactly looking forward to going into the place where she had seen the creature that scared her so much last time.

Settling herself more comfortably into the bed she decided to rest until the bells chimed. I seemed that only seconds later that she was jerked from her dozing by the bell ringing. It was time for her to start the hike to the small stable that the visiting nobles and students would let their horses rest. This place was then perfect for her and Thom's secret meeting place because usually the only people that would be in there wouldn't know that the two redheaded twins were not supposed to be in there.

It took her only a few minutes to get to the meeting place. To her almost eternal surprise she could see Thom's red hair peeking over the side of a hay bale that he was waiting on. He was not late for once in his life. As she walked around the hay bale and saw what really happened she was not as surprised. Thom was sitting slouched over asleep over a book that looked to be almost one thousand pages long.

The only way that Alanna could have even thought of waking her dear brother up was picking up the large book gently out of his hands and slamming it shut right next to his head. This brought Thom out of his slumber and off of the hay bale faster than Alanna had ever seen her brother move in his life. This sent Alanna into a fit of giggles, but since she couldn't be loud she was trying her hardest to keep the laughing under her breath.

Thom scowled at her from his spot on the barn floor, and then got up out of his sprawl glaring at the still giggling Alanna. "You didn't have to do that you know," Thom shot at Alanna after he had brushed the hay that was sticking to him off. "There are nicer ways to wake a person up."

"I know. But this way was much more fun that any of the other," Alanna retorted in a whisper. "We better get going. We don't know how long this life affirming adventure of yours is going to take. I have to get up early tomorrow to help make breakfast. It seems that no one can do a better job milking the god forsaken cow in the morning."

"You are just acting like you are doing this all for me. I know you Alanna. You want to go see what is happening in that building just as much as I do," Thom said to his sister. "Now come on." He shot this last part over his shoulder because he was already halfway down the central isle of the stable.

The two walked silently across the University's large campus to the mysterious buildings that they had visited earlier in the day. They crept along the wall of the first two buildings and then ran across the gap to the third to try to look into one of the high, small windows that the building sported.

"Thom, hoist me up there to see if anyone is in there," Alanna demanded, grabbing onto Thom's shoulder.

"Fine, hold on a second," he told the girl. He cupped his hands and let Alanna place one foot in them and push herself up on his back until she could see in. "What do you see?"

"Nothing, it is completely dark in this room. That most likely means that the building is deserted right now. Let's go in and investigate." Alanna demanded, starting towards the front door.

The two sneaked into the front room once they saw that there was no one in that part of the building. They took their time looking around the entrance area. It was obvious that the area housed some kind of animals. The twins thoroughly searched every part of the small entrance area. They found what must have been some jackets that must have belonged to some of the students that used to work in this lab. All but two of the jackets had collected dust and looked as if they had been hanging there for quite a while. After further investigation they found a box of heavy leather gloves of all sizes. And the last noteworthy thing they came across was several different sizes of heavy chain collars and leashes.

Thom pointed out a door to the right. He tried to figure out what this room was used for. He then tried the handle but it was locked. Thom took some time to look at the area surrounding the door. There was a floor mat outside of the door so he concluded that the room had to be well used. He was just about to ask Alanna for help figuring out what must be inside the room when she came up next to him from the other side of the entrance room and pointed to a wooden sign on the door that said in big, bold letters: OFFICE.

"Well anyone could have done that the easy way," Thom said.

"It doesn't matter anyway Thom. The door is locked. There is no way we can get in without using a key. Which, need I remind you, we don't have," Alanna told Thom. To prove this fact she stepped up to the door, grabbed onto the handle and shook the door with all of her strength. "See, I told you."

"Sister dear, do you think that I am going to let a little door get in the way of my finding out what top secret experiment that they are hiding in this building. If you do you obviously don't know me as well as I thought you did," Thom nudged Alanna out of the way of the door. "While you were learning how to kill and maim things out in the lower city I used my spare time for useful things. I think I read somewhere how to unlock a door." Thom paced in front of the door for a second before he put his hands on the door handle and the purple fire of his gift engulfed the lock. Then the door knob turned and the door swung open with a loud squeak. "There," Thom threw the word in his sister's face smugly before walking into the office.

The two had been searching the office for quite a while now with no more clues as to what was going on in the barn.

"Thom, all that is in here are some boring old documents that I have to say I couldn't understand less if I was completely illiterate," Alanna complained. "We are wasting our time by even being in here. Why don't I just show you what I saw last time I was in here?"

"We need to be thorough in our search of this place. If we look through things as we come across them we should understand everything else. Everything in searching has an order Alanna," Thom explained to his hardheaded sister. "This could be a clue, I'm not sure. I keep finding all of these diagrams of different animals. They have all of the parts of the body labeled very thoroughly. I guess that this being a barn could be why they are here, but I have never seen something so detailed before."

"That could be something, but let's go look somewhere else. All that is in here is a bunch of file cabinets," Alanna instructed walking out of the room.

She and Thom started to walk quickly up to the other side of the barn through the connecting hallway. They kept a close watch on what was happening around them looking for any signs of life. That is why when they heard a loud scream come from somewhere up ahead of them it frightened them both. They glanced at each other before taking off at a run through the next set of doors where the scream had originated.

------------------------------------

A/N: That has to have been the longest chapter I have ever written. I think that I at least deserve a review for my vast effort.

Chapter 15 is already written. All I need to do is proof read. I may write Chapter16 before that one gets up. If you review you will get the chapers faster.

If anyone is looking to when I will be updating my stories you can look at my profile. I will try to have my progress with the story up on that.

Again, if anyone has any questions as to what is happening in my story just drop me a review. I appreciate any review. I especially like it if you leave me constructive criticism. I am not threatening to stop posting if you don't review, I am just telling you that it is proven that I can type faster if I get more reviews.

I hope to update at least once a week during the summer. Of course sometimes, if I have nothing to do (hah!) I will try to get another chapter out. And then there will be times when there is no update due to my busy life.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Chapter 15

------------------------------------

It took the two bare seconds to run through the long halls of the next room. It was the place that Alanna obviously had seen the last time that she had been in this building. They quickly ran along the rows of stalls that had wooden panels going up all the way to the ceiling. They could see in the distance that there had been one stall that had the top of the stall open. In a final dash they got to the open door, Alanna a few paces before Thom.

What they saw when they got to the door astounded them. In the room was a beast the likes neither of them had seen before. It seemed to be a mix of many different animals, mostly feline. But what made the twins immediately jump into action was the man it seemed to be attacking. They would have time to investigate the animal later.

Alanna quickly drew out the dagger that she had concealed in her belt. She wasn't sure exactly what she could do to help the man against the massive beast. The animal had not acknowledged that the two had come into the stall yet. She tried to throw the dagger at the beast as hard as she could but it just bounced off of the monsters hard pelt not doing any harm.

Thom looked uncertain whether to run in the other direction as fast as he could or to stay and help. Once he saw his sister pull the knife out of her pants he knew what her plans were. He ran different plans of action through his head at lightning speed trying to find the best. The only option seemed to be to use his gift to try to immobilize the creature. He stepped up next to his sister and thought of the spell he wanted to use. The only one that popped into his mind as useful at the moment was the only spell that their father had knowingly permitted the two to be taught, the one that would do snow shoveling for them.

Alanna was confused at what her brother was trying to do, but when he muttered the familiar words she knew that it would be best for her to help him. They both sent out the great gusts of wind simultaneously at the monster. The annoying small jets of air had made the monster mad enough to turn around at the tow and forget the man that it seemed determined to eat. This gave the dark skinned Carthaki time to get away from the monster and to the door where the twins had moved to make room for him. Once the man was out and to safety he pushed the door shut and locked the animal inside.

All three of them took their time to catch their breath observing one another silently.

Finally the unknown man broke the silence. "Who are you two and what are you doing in here? It is not that I am not grateful or anything."

"Um…uh… Well, we heard someone scream and then came to see what happened," Thom tried to cover. "By the way, what exactly was that thing?" His scholarly side was kicking in again. "I have never seen anything quite like that."

"Do you have any idea who I am?" the man asked his two nearly identical rescuers.

They both opened their mouths to say something, and then they thought the better of it. The twins looked to each other trying to see which one of them was going to speak.

Grabbing the bull by the horns Alanna let out a blunt, "No."

Thom took a second look at the stranger and enlightenment dawned. His eyes all of a sudden got very big and then he said, "Oh gods, your Ozorne

"Yes that I am. And I guess you have saved me. I need to know who you are," Ozorne said. The twins shared guilty looks for a second. "It's nothing bad. I will have to repay, I practically owe you my life. If you wouldn't have come… well I don't know what would have happened. My father will want to reward you."

"We are working as servants at the University," Thom started the story. "As I said we where walking by when we heard a scream, then we came running to investigate what was happening. That's when we found you."

"Servants, yes, I don't think that I have ever seen you around. What is it that you do at the University?" Ozorne questioned.

Alanna picked up the next part of the story. "We work for Prince Gregory. We also do other chores around the place if we are not needed."

Ozorne thought about this answer for a second. "Well as my rescuers you can not work as a servant for the crown. It wouldn't be right."

"Really, you would help us to get out of here?" Thom asked.

Ozorne looked at the boy as if he was crazy. "Of course. Do you think that the Emperor of Carthak doesn't have enough honor to do something for people that rescued the heir to his throne?"

"He wasn't insinuating that you had no honor Highness, he is just so happy to be freed that he did not think about what he was saying," Alanna covered for her brother. "I am Alanna and this is Thom."

"Well, follow me I will have to go to my father. He will want to give a reward. Just come along," the prince said making sure one last time that the door to the stall containing he monster was safely shut.

"Just one thing." Thom asked Ozorne. "What is that thing in there?"

"Myself and another University student are conducting an experiment on creating different types of animals. That is one of our creations. We don't know what to do with the thing now that we made it," Ozorne explained. "Whoops, here I will have take the spells off of your slave collars later. For now we will find you a place to stay for the night. Tomorrow morning we will go to the palace."

-------------------------------------------

A/N: Hi all. I guess this took a little more time than I expected to get out. For a while I was really into writing on this story. Now I am going through a little block, although I kind of know what I want to happen. Right now is the changing point in the story.

I am sorry to say I don't have the next chapter even close to finished, but it is started. I would really appreciate a review this chapter. Please send me comments on the last few chapters, for I haven't gotten reviewed in a long while. It will brighten my day and help to fuel my writing.

I will have the next chapter out as soon as possible.

ColossalSky


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Chapter 16

---------------------------------

That night Thom and Alanna were given guest rooms at the University after being allowed to go to their rooms and fetch their meager possessions. They were told by Ozorne to be ready to go to the palace the next morning. It seemed that the Prince couldn't wait to introduce his rescuers to his father, the King. Ozorne sent a letter off to the palace to explain the situation to his father. He wanted the king to be ready to greet the twins with the proper reception for helpers to the Crown.

As soon as Alanna crashed into bed that night she knew that this was her big break to get out of servitude in Carthak.

Thom was having mostly the same thought crossing his mind. This thought was accompanied by a reminder for Alanna that going to explore that building was his idea, so he actually was the one that helped the two to freedom.

--------------------------------

The twins were both woken up early the next morning. They were told to get ready to go to the castle. For the first time the two thought about what going to the castle to meet the king would entail. Thinking of this they found that they had no clothes that would suffice for being in the presence of the King of one of the riches countries in the world. Making a quick decision Thom put on the only pair of breeches that he had that were both clean and without holes. He topped this off with a starched white shirt. After he deemed himself as presentable as he was going to look he went off to the adjoining room that his sister was staying in.

When he got there he was in for a surprise. Alanna, his sister that had never cared what someone thought about her appearance in her life, had three different frocks sitting out on the bed and was taking her time deciding on what one to wear.

"Alanna what in the world are you doing?" Thom questioned his sister. "Do you know that we will have to leave in bare minutes and you are not even close to being ready to go?"

Alanna turned around with her hands on her hips. "What do you think I am doing? We have to look somewhat presentable. I just need to find the dress with the least dirt and holes in it and then that is the one that I am going to wear. I think the blue one is the final pick."

"Ok then, hurry up," Thom said pushing his sister behind the dressing screen to get into her outfit. "This is the perfect time for you to realize your feminine side."

"Stepping out from behind the screen, Alanna gave her brother a glare. "Make yourself useful and button this part for me."

Not seconds after Alanna deemed herself ready someone was knocking on the door impatiently. Thom went up to the door and opened it to reveal a footman that wore a rather haughty look on his face. He looked down at the two and announced to them that the carriage that was to take them to the palace had arrived.

The Trebond twins looked at one another and set off out the door and into their next big adventure.

-----------------------------------

When the small group finally made it to the large palace no one was more grateful than Alanna. It seems that Ozorne thought taking a carriage all the way through the city would take far too long. No, he decided to only take the ride to the docks. And then they took the waterways all the way to the royal palace. Alanna, trying to be polite, decided to say nothing about her extreme affinity for seasickness. You can guess what happened as soon as the boat started on its way.

The whole time that the boat was moving Thom was doing his best to explore every part of the boat on deck. He was simply fascinated because the barge was run totally off of stored magic. It was a technology still not known to the rest of the world and Thom was determined to figure out exactly how it worked.

Almost immediately the trio was swept up the stairs to the palace entrance, into the entry way, and then down the all towards the large set of double doors into the throne room. Ozorne walked in first to greet his father, and then Alanna and Thom followed him in. Ozorne walked right up to the king, gave a small bow, and then moved up to talk to his father next to him on his throne. The pair had a fast, whispered conversation. When this brief conversation between father and son was over, the King turned to face the two children that had saved the heir to his throne.

Thom and Alanna both stepped slightly forward from their stations at the back of the room near the door, and gave the best bow or curtsy that they knew how.

The King ran his eyes over the two somewhat scrawny twins that stood in front of him, and then said, "I am in severe debt to you both for saving Ozorne. I feel obligated to help you through your hard times." This comment was founded in the raggedy way the twins were forced to dress to meet the King. "It would be my great pleasure to grant you both a deed of nobility in Carthak. I will trust that my council will get on the task of finding you a suitable fief in reward for your heroic actions."

At these words the King gestured to a messenger to leave the room with that note to his Royal Council.

The twins looked at each other in astonishment. Maybe they would not have to go back to Tortall and to, in their opinion, the doomed fate of becoming what their father picked for them. Thom the one that came to his senses first said, "That would be wonderful, Majesty. We are humbled by your generosity."

"Nonsence," the King responded, "it is the least that I can do for you. As I said before, I am deeply indebted to you."

In this brief amount of time the messenger returned breathing deeply. "Your Majesty, the council has come up with this conclusion," the messenger said this and then handed a scroll of neatly rolled parchment to the king.

"Just what I thought." The King replied to the message. "You will be granted the lands, holdings, and all that resides on the lands of Walrus Cove. You can choose to move down there now, but remember that there will always be room for you at the palace. We would be happy to see you here."

---------------------------------

A/N: Well, there is the next installment. I hope that all of you liked it so far.Now will begin a different phase of theirlives. Please review to tell me how you like it so far. As always I am open for questions.

**PLEASE READ**: I have recently decided that I will be going over and fixing the first few chapters. I have found so many contradictions and typos. I will try to keep the updates coming for now. I haven't been getting many reviews, so I decided if my grammar was better I would generate more interest in the story.

ColossalSky


	17. Chapter Seventeen

Chapter 17

----------------------------

It was just minutes later that Thom and Alanna, now of Walrus Cove, had time to talk about what had just happened to them. They had been quickly whisked out of the throne room and into a small reception room just off the entry way, giving them private time to talk together.

Alanna looked at her brother purple eyes wide and said in amazement, "Thom, do you get this. We are now free, and we don't need to go back to Tortall. Therefore I don't have to go to the convent and you don't have to become a knight. We couldn't have prayed for a better outcome."

"Sister, don't you think that if you are going to be a noble lady in Carthak you may need a little…well…lady training?" Thom questioned. Upon seeing the look this question brought out on Alanna's face he quickly backtracked. "I didn't mean that you had to go to a convent or anything like that."

"I don't think so brother dear. No one can try to make me. They can only advise me to." Alanna looked at her brother.

"Well, maybe we should see what this agreement entails. You know that in Carthak they may give us a legal advisor to help us run the fief until we are of legal age," Thom told his sister.

"Fine let's get all of this over with." Alanna stood up from the chair she had been sitting on and started towards the door. "Well are you coming?"

----------------------------

The twins soon found themselves in a meeting room with a few other people including Ozorne, a messenger, and someone that was managing the land of Walrus Cove.

Alanna watched as the small group of people talked quickly about what was to happen to the twins and the land. It wasn't quite an argument, but they weren't agreeing on anything.

Finally the decision was made. The twins were to be given the land immediately. They were allowed to live on and govern it the way they chose. The one catch was that they had to have an advisor until the day that the two reached sixteen.

The next issue addressed at the meeting was what the twins were to do for the majority of their lives. It was decided that they would be asked about this. Ozorne ever so nicely asked them, "Thom, Alanna, what did you two have in mind as to your future?"

Immediately Thom started talking cutting Alanna off from what she was about to say. "I have always wanted to learn to use my gift and be a powerful sorcerer. I mean… I am not too old to start learning. I swear that I would listen to my teachers, and-"

"Fine, fine," Ozorne cut the boy off from his rant. "Now Alanna what do you want to do? Would you like to be a sorcerer to, or would you like to learn to be a lady. We have some of the finest etiquette teachers on this side of the Great Inland Sea." Seeing the look on her face he stopped abruptly.

"No disrespect sir, but I would like to learn to fight. It has been my dream forever. And I would be a great learner. I wouldn't complain or anything," Alanna spouted out quickly expecting her idea to be rejected.

The advisor who had been introduced as Kaleb Mancini then spoke up. "Dear, do you think that doing that would be the best way to show your newfound nobility?"

"She should do what she wants to," Ozorne stood up for his young rescuer. "If not for her fighting ability I fear that I would not be here anymore."

This statement shut Mr. Mancini up quite efficiently.

"Walrus cove turns out many great soldiers every year. I think that if you journey that way you will find that there will be people in abundance to teach you the skills that you wish to possess." Ozorne ended this strand of the conversation. "Now we just need to finalize these next few things and you two will be on your way to your new manor."

----------------------------

He looked about the smoke filled room searching for anything that seemed amiss. The first thing that seemed peculiar to him was the man who had just entered the inn. He looked a little to clean and well groomed to be hanging around a place like this.

He tuned out the blonde woman that was sitting to his right jabbering on about basically nothing to make sure that he kept a steady eye on this new stranger. He waved to the bartender for another ale. Once the bartender came over to deliver the drink he grabbed the man's collar and asked, "Ever seen that man in here before?" At the shake of the man's head he said, "Watch him."

Later into the evening the strange man approached him and secretively dropped a letter onto the table. He looked around trying to see if there was anyone watching this exchange. When he noticed no one had seen what had just happened he opened the letter inconspicuously under the table.

_Agent 29010,_

_We have run into a little difficulty up here. It seems that we have two missing noble children. Said to be twins and almost identical. We will need to get them back for they belong to one of our very prominent families. We don't want any trouble up here. _

_It would be beneficial if you would try to take a look around. We have tracked a group of bandits to a ship dock near Port Cayn. One of the ships at the time was said to have a destination close to your station._

_It would not be hard to spot these two. They are easily recognizable with red hair and purple eyes. They will speak like nobles and are highly educated. _

_There is no certain proof that they are near you. It will need to be investigated though. Many others are on the case also._

_Always,_

_MO_

He looked at the letter and made a mental note to investigate. He got up from the table and made his way up to his room leaving the put out blonde sitting at the table staring after him confused.

He entered the room and grabbed his parchment and quill.

_Mo,_

_I will be on the lookout for the aforementioned children. I have my hands quite full at the moment, but everything is going according to plan. No new developments._

_Agent 29010_

At this he took out his pocket knife, lopped off a piece of hisdarkhair and stuck it into a drip of hot wax underneath his name. Then he sealed the letter and went back to thecommon room to find a decent messenger.

-----------------------------

A/N: Hi all, I know it had been a while since my last update. Sorry for taking so long.

I would just like to say thank you to the people who reviewed the last chapter.

I will try my hardest to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. I have to go to camp so it could take me a while to post next.

As always I encourage readers to review. I can't make the story better if I don't have any input.

ColossalSky


End file.
